It was Sunday afternoon, about 15 hours after his Final Four debut, and the Wolverines’ 6-foot-10 phenomenon recounted his freight-train rush upcourt in Saturday’s semifinal win over Syracuse.

More than 75,000 fans at the Georgia Dome and millions watching on television felt their jaws drop at once that night, seeing McGary grab a loose ball at his own free-throw line, fast-break by himself with power dribbles and dish to Tim Hardaway Jr. for a lay-up.

What hid all year behind closed doors suddenly broke free in the brightest light — and McGary was momentarily living his dream.

He knew what was coming later from coach John Beilein but seized the moment anyway.

“Just take care of the ball, slow it up, give it to a guard,” he said, explaining Beilein’s conservative approach, which McGary showed his teammates all last summer, leading the break on a daily pick-up basis. “I like to consider myself a point guard. … It just kind of happened. It was in the flow of the game, we’re not thinking out there. … It was one of those plays where Coach B was “No, no, no … yeah!”

That may be the simple answer to the most complex question of McGary’s rise in Michigan’s stunning NCAA tournament run to tonight’s title game.

It just happened.

Beginning when McGary was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in high school through earlier this week when he was working on specific pivot drills preparing for the Final Four, everything has been a challenge.

Yet the reward — with a big game and a win, McGary becomes a strong candidate for the NCAA tournament’s Most Outstanding Player — is worth every bit of the effort.

Figuring it out

McGary was always tall growing up in Chesterton, Ind., but that was about the only advantage he had. He was gangly, the arms and legs couldn’t find a rhythm and he was a pinball, ricocheting from spot to spot.

Sports often helped, but he needed direction in the rest of his life. He just never stopped.

At age 15 or 16, he was finally diagnosed with ADHD.

“It was kind of scary,” he said. “I was just a happy-go-lucky kid in class but I would be spacing off. I really didn’t realize it until my grades started showing significant (drops). That I really wasn’t performing well in the classroom because I couldn’t focus as well. I didn’t relate it until I matured a little bit more and got to be 18, 19 and realized wow, I’ve got to do something here.”

That’s when he and his family decided he should attend Brewster Academy in New Hampshire, where he would develop his basketball skills and also get enough class attention.

He projected enough for Purdue to offer an early scholarship and his parents wanted him to accept it — citing the solid academics and proximity to home — but he wanted to wait, seeing if there was a higher ceiling.

His basketball skills came together at Brewster, even though he was mostly a bench player, and in AAU tournaments when he blossomed and became the No. 2 recruit in the country on the Rivals.com list.

The big offers came, from every major school in the country, yet he spurned them all for the Wolverines, the biggest recruit of Beilein’s career. It helped that his childhood friend and former U-M forward Zack Novak vouched for how Michigan changed his life.

“When Mitch called us, we said we have a real chance right now to be real special because we had some really talented players lined up,” Beilein said. “Having a 6-10 player with his skill level, it can be a difference maker with teams. As he’s evolved this year, we’ve all seen how that’s happened.”

After settling on Michigan, McGary began to focus.

“It just goes to show I started having that then embraced it and learned how to control it and how to focus more on and off the court, and I think it’s helped me throughout my life,” he said. “Just going to Brewster and learning more values in school and on the court, just trying to stay focused and if I get off task or space out, just reel myself back in and get focused again.”

There’s no medicine, he said. Just his own will.

Less weight, more impact

Patience and humility has shaped him.

McGary never played more than 21 minutes until February. It was after starting center Jordan Morgan twisted his ankle.

As the only realistic choice to play the heavy big man minutes, he quickly found out he wasn’t ready.

By mid-February, the most energetic Wolverine was sluggish and the scale screamed that message at nearly 274 pounds.

Hello, diet.

Strength coach Jon Sanderson got more intense about McGary’s eating habits and begged him to ditch the junk food, logging every meal and directing him (at least when McGary gave him an accurate report).

Six weeks later, he’s down to 255 pounds and dominating the NCAA tournament. Funny how that works.

McGary still has his cheat days.

“Maybe I’ll have a pizza here and there — not a whole pizza,” he said to laughter. “Maybe a pizza, maybe a burger. I think it helps your metabolism if you have a cheat day or something. But I just try to stay on track.”

Opportunity and desire crashed into the first five NCAA tournament games and he became a national revelation.

When Morgan returned from his injury but lost his confidence, McGary was pushed into the do-or-die situation. He made his first start not due to an injury to open the NCAA tournament against South Dakota State.

In his first five tournament games, he averaged 16 points, 11.6 rebounds and shot nearly 70% from the floor. He threw no-look passes and led the break. He dished out six assists against Syracuse and led U-M with 2.2 steals per game in the tournament.

“There came a point that I didn’t want to get off to bad starts, he was really getting so many of the things that are really important to his success, these incremental steps he’s been making over the last month,” Beilein said. “We saw enough of them to say, ‘Let’s not worry about who comes off the bench as much right now because he’s ready to help us from the get-go.’.”

Since then, the Wolverines got going. They’re rolling like McGary on that break — all the way to the brink of a national title.